神的异象
稳步向前
经文
哈巴谷书三1-19
1先知哈巴谷的祷告,调用流离歌。
2耶和华啊,我听见你的名声(或译:言语)就惧怕。
耶和华啊,求你在这些年间复兴你的作为,在这些年间显明出来;
在发怒的时候以怜悯为念。
3神从提幔而来;圣者从巴兰山临到。(细拉)
他的荣光遮蔽诸天;颂赞充满大地。
4他的辉煌如同日光;从他手里射出光线,在其中藏着他的能力。
5在他前面有瘟疫流行;在他脚下有热症发出。
6他站立,量了大地(或译:使地震动),观看,赶散万民。
永久的山崩裂;长存的岭塌陷;他的作为与古时一样。
7我见古珊的帐棚遭难,米甸的幔子战兢。
8耶和华啊,你乘在马上,坐在得胜的车上,
岂是不喜悦江河、向江河发怒气、向洋海发愤恨吗?
9你的弓全然显露,向众支派所起的誓都是可信的。(细拉)你以江河分开大地。
10山岭见你,无不战惧;大水泛滥过去,深渊发声,汹涌翻腾(原文是向上举手)。
11因你的箭射出发光,你的枪闪出光耀,日月都在本宫停住。
12你发愤恨通行大地,发怒气责打列国,如同打粮。
13你出来要拯救你的百姓,拯救你的受膏者,
打破恶人家长的头,露出他的脚(原文是根基),直到颈项。(细拉)
14你用敌人的戈矛刺透他战士的头;他们来如旋风,要将我们分散。
他们所喜爱的是暗中吞吃贫民。
15你乘马践踏红海,就是践踏汹涌的大水。
16我听见耶和华的声音,身体战兢,嘴唇发颤,骨中朽烂;
我在所立之处战兢。我只可安静等候灾难之日临到,犯境之民上来。
17虽然无花果树不发旺,葡萄树不结果,橄榄树也不效力,
田地不出粮食,圈中绝了羊,棚内也没有牛;
18然而,我要因耶和华欢欣,因救我的神喜乐。
19主耶和华是我的力量;他使我的脚快如母鹿的蹄,又使我稳行在高处。
信息分享
昨天我们说过,如果我们把关于神的「底线」看为祂是医治、保护或解救我们的神,这样就经常会感到失望。因为我们知道有时候神并不会好像我们所期望的为我们行事。如果神让一些事情发生在我们身上,而我们认为祂不应该容许那样的事情发生的话,等到再遇上同样的情况时,我们便会感到很难信任祂。在这种情况下,我们往往会对神产生很深的愤怒或失望,但考虑到基督徒的信心,我们学会将那些愤怒或失望压制下来,而这很大程度上是因为我们不明白神的「底线」。
那么,神的「底线」究竟是甚么?我认为是祂的公义。我的意思是:神所做的,都是对的。不是因为那是神所做的,所以是对的,而是因为那是对的,所以神才做。这两者之间的分别很大。很多基督徒感到难以相信神的公义。他们说自己相信,但在被别人问及时,却清楚显示出他们只根据自己的信念来相信公义。
今天的经文指出哈巴谷明白无论神做甚么都是公义的。在他默想到神将会在祂的百姓身上显示公义的时候,让他内心感到平稳的是他刚找到的信心──对神的公义的信心。我要肯定地告诉你,除非我们确信神所作的一切绝对公平,否则我们不能有稳妥的脚步去行走前面的崎岖路段。
「神所做的,尽是公义」
进深研究
耶十二1-17;诗九十八8-9;诗九十九4
1. 耶利米向神提出甚么意见?
2. 甚么推动神的公义?
祈祷
天父,我明白如果我要在基督徒生命中,以鹿那样稳妥的脚步向上走的话,必须确信您所做的一切都是正确的。求您将这确信铭刻在我心上。奉主耶稣的圣名祈求。阿们。
The Vision of God
Steady as you go!
Bible reading:
Habakkuk 3:1-19
1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.[a]
2 Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.[b] His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth.
4 His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden.
5 Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps.
6 He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed— but he marches on forever.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish.
8 Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory?
9 You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers;
10 the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high.
11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear.
12 In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations.
13 You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot.
14 With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.
16 I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
Message
We acknowledged yesterday that if we see the "bottom line" concerning God as the fact that He is a Healer, or Protector, or a Deliverer, then we are often going to be disappointed, because every one of us knows that there are times when He does not come through for us in the way we expect. If He lets something happen to us that we think He shouldn't have let happen, then we will find it very difficult to trust in Him should we have the same requirement again. Often in these situations we end up developing a deep rage or disappointment with God which, in the interests of the Christian faith, we learn to suppress. This is largely because we do not understand God's "bottom line".
So what is the "bottom line" as regards God? I suggest it is His justice. By that I mean the truth that whatever God does, He does because it is right. Not that it is right because God does it, but that God does it because it is right. There is a world of difference between those two things. Most Christians find it difficult to believe in the justice of God. They say they do, but when questioned it is clear they believe only in justice on their terms.
In the passage before us today, Habakkuk comes to see that whatever God does is just, and it is his new-found confidence in the justice of God that holds him steady as he contemplates the judgment that God is about to bring on His people. I tell you with all the conviction of my heart that unless we are gripped by the belief that God acts justly in everything - everything - then we will not have the sure-footedness we need to negotiate the rocky slopes that are up ahead.
"Whatever God does is just"
Prayer
Father, I see that if I am to move upwards in my Christian life with the sure-footedness of a deer, then I can only do so as I am gripped by the conviction that everything You do is right. Burn that conviction into me. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Further study
Jeremiah 12:1-17
Psalm 98:8-9; 99:4
1. What issue did Jeremiah take up with God?
2. What motivates God's justice?
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